We’re pleased to announce that Reikan FoCal 1.7 for Windows (Beta) has just been released for FoCal Pro users.
What is Reikan FoCal for Windows Beta?
FoCal is a software package originally intended for fully automatic AF Microadjustment calibration, but has grown to include features like the ability to check autofocus consistency, finding the sharpest aperture of your lenses, checking your sensor for dust and other tools.
FoCal was first made available on Windows in January 2012 supporting just the Canon 5Dmk2 and 7D, and has since gone through 6 versions adding more tests and support for all Canon and Nikon cameras that allow AF Microadjustment or AF Fine Tune (almost 20 cameras in total).
Today’s release is the first version of FoCal 1.7 for Windows.
What do you mean by Beta?
This is NOT the final version of the software. We do hope that it’s very usable and doesn’t show any significant bugs, but we are releasing this version so that people can try out FoCal and give us feedback allowing us to improve the software. The software will run for a limited time – there will be a new release available before expiration of this version (either a new beta or the final release).
What’s available?
This version (1.7.0.209) is a full, feature complete version of FoCal. It is the result of the merging of FoCal for Windows and the new FoCal for Mac code bases, so it includes many bug fixes and minor user interface improvements. This version is functionally identical to the latest FoCal for Mac beta (1.7.0.208).
What’s new in FoCal 1.7?
The main driver for this version of FoCal is the improvements we’ve made to the underlying test controller architecture while developing the Mac version of FoCal. Some notable enhancements include:
- A change to the analysis algorithm to give more valid results for a data single point
- A fix to the autofocus performance validation (used for the fully automatic AF microadjustment test)
- Removal of AF Microadjustment based defocus methods as these are outdated and inappropriate for FoCal
- Improvements to Manual Mode analysis
- A change to the way the 5Dmk3 and 1DX licensing is handled to improve reliability
- A new chart control which is common between the Windows and Mac version
- The ability to hide test information messages to reduce screen clutter and interruptions
- Copyable chart images in the reports (achange requested by several users from FoCal 1.5)
- Updates to some warnings in Target Setup to make it more obvious what they mean
- Many more small but important fixes
Are there any known problems?
Nothing that we know about, but when released to a wider audience it’s quite likely that there are a few minor issues that might appear.
How do I get it?
As with all our beta releases, we give FoCal Pro license holders the chance to get early access to the software, so you will need a FoCal Pro license in order to use this software. There is no extra charge for this new version, so if you already have a FoCal Pro license then you have everything you need to get the software and to get going.
You can download it from the License Management System – you’ll see the link to the download at the bottom of the page once you log in (as long as you have a FoCal Pro license).
The software is available as a ZIP file, and contains the target images and documentation.
What can I do to help?
Please download the software and give it a go. Let us know how you get on:
- If you spot any errors, please let us know
- If you can make the software misbehave, let us know what steps you take to make it happen
- If it works perfectly we’d love to hear too (good news it always nice!!)
You can contact us through the contact form (please use the Windows Beta option). There’s likely to be quite a high volume of emails, so we can’t reply to everyone but every bit of information we receive will be read and used to make FoCal better, so please let us know how you get on.